Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1428 Terrace ([-])

"Be careful, are there any stones at the bottom of the river?" The dredger numbered "Qingtang Jun-110" shook violently, and the experienced captain immediately ordered to shut down the propeller propulsion system at the stern, and then lay down on the ship's side to face the river. It seemed that the surface of the river was so muddy that it was impossible to see clearly, which annoyed him very much.

"Old Li, what did you do? Did you drink too much at noon? How did you drive the boat! Such a simple dredging task is not worry-free, it's so f***ing!" The captain walked back to the cockpit, He yelled at a middle-aged man, then called a young sailor, and shouted: "Kochagin, you, go into the water and have a look!"

The sailor named was a Russian who had just become a full-time member. After hearing the words, he nodded helplessly, then took off his clothes and pants, and jumped into the muddy river.After tossing in the water for a long time, the poor young man was finally pulled onto the deck, and panting heavily, he said to the captain, "Boss, the ship is stranded, and the bottom is full of mud, but I'm not sure if there are any stones."

Hearing the words, the captain cursed a few times, and after thinking for a long time, he asked his men to prepare a small boat and put it on the river. He had to go to the nearest settlement, Luyang Town, for help. The steamship may be able to help their poor "Qingtang Army" series.Otherwise, are you going to wait until the autumn floods rise and the river water depth rises before leaving?What a joke!

After the captain left, the crew shut down the ship's power system, and then fell into a boring wait.This is the Ludang River, which was originally a sparsely populated place. Except for the immigrants on the east bank, there were only a large number of fierce natives. It's hard to see them.

More than half an hour later, a 72-ton small inland river steamer sailed against the current with black smoke. The captain of the boat also seemed to be an enthusiastic person. After seeing the call for help, he immediately approached the boat cautiously, then lowered the boat, and sent someone over to find out what happened.

The person boarding the ship was an officer less than 30 years old, wearing a white-washed army summer uniform, and the epaulettes turned out to be the rank of captain, which made everyone a little confused. In the Patagonian platform, the army captain is not the only one. One person, is that Captain Guo Handong, the second son of Guo Zili, Chief of the General Staff of the Joint Staff Headquarters, the son-in-law of Li Yi, a veteran of the navy, who is known as the "Terminator of the Tehuelche people"?

"I'm Guo Handong, are you running aground?" the officer who brought a few entourages up to the deck of "Qingtang Army-110" asked loudly.After being confirmed by the sailors on the ship, he immediately asked a second lieutenant named Pei Dade to return to the small steamer on the inland river, and asked him to send someone to measure the water depth and confirm which places could be navigated, and then tried to find a way to get the stranded dredger Pull out for shallow water.

The activity of measuring the sailors was not complicated, but it still lasted until the evening. The sailors of the two ships got together and discussed for a long time, and finally planned an optimal route out of the grounding area.However, because it was getting late, everyone didn't want to take risks at night, so they decided to start working after dawn tomorrow. Captain Guo Handong sighed after hearing this, and then took dozens of officers and soldiers on board to go ashore in small boats. I went to a small village not far away, because it was obvious that I could not reach the destination Changlu Township tonight-the small town of Chinpai on the banks of the Negro River in later generations.

The naming of Changlu Township has nothing to do with salt. There is no inland salt lake here. Generally, it will be ratified, so Changlu Township has settled down like this.

This settlement currently only has more than 700 people. Immigrants from the Huai'an Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty, second-generation local citizens, and non-nationals who have been converted to regular status each account for one-third. The shore cavalry wiped out the hundreds of people of the Tehuelche tribe at the cost of more than a dozen casualties, and then they successfully settled down in this fertile river valley.

This small village is also under the jurisdiction of Changlu Township. It has a small population of only a few dozen people. It is dominated by adobe houses, which looks very pitiful.Guo Handong was very skeptical, how could such a poor and weak village be able to defend itself once it was attacked by the Tehuelche herdsmen?

"What does Deputy Commissioner Cai think? So many large and small villages have been set up in such a place that goes deep into the inland of the platform. You know, the Indians in this area have not been cleared yet, and even if they are cleared Now, they can come back at any time, they have horses!" In front of his confidants, Captain Guo Handong couldn't help criticizing his boss, thinking that doing this was completely nonsense.

Second Lieutenant Pei Dade, who was closely following him, immediately took out a hand-painted map from his cowhide satchel when he heard the words, looked carefully at the faint light in the sky, and raised his head after a long time and said: "There are no Indian tribes nearby. Except for those who came here. The establishment of these villages, hey, is not for the convenience of catching cattle! Sir, you see, every village has a livestock pen, which stores a large number of domesticated bison. Moreover, the economy of these villages is still very deformed. I heard that in Xuanwu County and Daliang County, some villages that have been established for four years have not planted wheat yet. Apart from orchards, the rural economy only has alfalfa fields, which are obviously used to raise cattle. Bison economy, really I can’t comment anymore, who made this money!”

Both Xuanwu County and Daliang County were established at the end of last year (1665). They are the 56th and 57th county-level administrative units in the country respectively. Among them, Xuanwu County has four jurisdictions: Xuanwu Town, Shunchang Township, Qiaocheng Township, and Suiyang Township. Townships, with a total population of more than 9400; Daliang County has four townships under the jurisdiction of Daliang Town, Fengze Township, Changyuan Township, and Yongqiu Township, with a total population of more than 8100.It can be seen that the northern Patagonia region has indeed invested in these two counties. At least in recent years, most of the immigration quotas (only more than [-] people per year) have been resettled here. The determination of the two counties is very firm.

In fact, this is also easy to understand. The two sides of the Gein Ludang River and the Baoxing River (Colorado River) are places where the agricultural conditions in Patagonia are relatively prominent. The temperature is suitable and the precipitation is moderate (400-600 mm). The alluvial soil in the river valley is also very fertile, so it is suitable for resettling a large number of immigrants for agricultural reclamation. Of course, many farmers in these two counties grow alfalfa and raise cattle. In the eyes of many people, it is completely wrong. Later Argentines left work in the 19th century In the so-called "conquest of the desert" operation launched by Ye, when the Minister of War, General Rocca led [-] soldiers to seize this land from the Indians, it once became the barn of Argentina, because this land is located between the two rivers. The land in the middle is especially suitable for growing wheat. A large number of immigrants from Spain, Italy and Wales flocked here to reclaim wasteland, grow grains, and catch bison. Nigeria process.

Now that the time has returned to 200 years ago, the colonists from the east bank coincided with the Argentines of later generations, and they also chose to vigorously develop the "wheat area" between the Ludang River and the Baoxing River. Due to the relatively developed economy, they pay more attention to bison, which can bring them greater benefits in the short term, instead of cultivating wheat.It is also a strange thing that the residents of this famous wheat-producing area in later generations have to import a large amount of grains from the Nanyazi Lake Basin every year to maintain their livelihoods.

The militiamen in the village were very happy with the arrival of the army soldiers. They took out food—although crude, but sufficient—and wine to entertain the soldiers escorting them, and then gave up the vacant houses and warehouses in the village. So that the soldiers have a place to stay, Guo Handong and others expressed their gratitude for this.

There was nothing to say all night, and the next morning, a sailor from the river came to inform that after two hours of busy work, the stranded dredger had successfully escaped from danger and could continue to work.After thinking about it for a while, Guo Handong decided to let the small steamer carrying them go to the Changlu Township wharf first, while they proceeded along the land road, and checked the surrounding situation by the way, because when they camped last night, the village The pioneers reported that there was once a cavalry team of Indians nearby. It was small in scale and looked like more than [-] riders, but it was already worthy of vigilance.

At nine o'clock in the morning, dozens of officers and soldiers from the Eighth Mixed Battalion (reorganized from the former Far East Garrison), led by Guo Handong and Pei Dade, carried rifles and went up along the Ludang River. Go in the direction of Changlu Township.

Today is a very hot day, and there is not a cloud in the sky of the vast platform, which makes people feel refreshed.Fortunately, there is no such terrible hole in the ozone layer over Argentina in this era, so the sunshine can still be tolerated. Everyone carries thirst-quenching yerba mate tea on their backs, and a few pieces of soft oil cakes in their lunch boxes. It's quite pleasant.

On the way I met two gauchos on horseback.To be precise, it was two gauchos who were sleeping on a horse. After the horse met a stranger and neighed violently, they woke up suddenly, and then looked awkwardly at a group of East Coast soldiers with live ammunition in front of them.

"Where did you come from, Gauchos?" Two soldiers put down their rifles, stepped forward and pulled the knight off his horse, and asked gruffly, "Who do you serve? If it's spies, I think it's already time You can pray to the God you believe in."

"Don't shoot, your own people." An elderly gaucho raised his hands high and said in embarrassment: "We are serving Second Lieutenant Li Zhixin in Xibao Township. This time we are going to Luyang Township to request a shipment of supplies. Really, it's a document."

Pei Dade went forward with a command knife and checked carefully, then nodded to Guo Handong, and said: "It's the people from Xibao Township, the Gaoqiao herdsmen hired by Li Zhixin, to deliver the letter to Luyang Island."

Xibao Township is located near the small town of Cherfulo in the later generations. It is a settlement just built a few months ago. It is a small and medium-sized military outpost built with precious wood and bricks pulled from the downstream. It can accommodate at most Eighty soldiers and a week's food, so the downstream Luyang Island (which has become a logistics base for people from the east bank to develop the upper reaches of the Ludang River, with more than 2500 pioneers settled) sends boats here about once every other week, In addition to transporting food, there are also various military supplies, medicines, tools and construction materials, some of which are consumed by military posts, and some are hoarded for the establishment of settlements after the new immigrants come this year.

From the map, we can see that Xibao Township has gone far to the west, and it is only [-] kilometers away from the important town of General Roca and Neuquen in the province of Neuquen in Argentina.You know, there are a large number of Thuelche Indians living there. The later General Rocca led the Argentine army with two divisions, killing, wounding and capturing nearly [-] Indians. A land rich in oil and gas underground.

With the current investment of the people on the East Bank here, they can't afford to poke this hornet's nest. Otherwise, such as Xibao Township and Changlu Township may be pulled out by waves, and even Luyang Island is facing The pressure will also be quite high, after all, this is an area where Indians are extremely dense.

Of course, the people on the east coast still don’t know how many Indians are in the upper reaches. They just vaguely feel that there are a lot of them, so they are going to hoard population, supplies, and troops on the periphery first, drill the militia, and dredge the waterway—the latter is especially important. , since last year, the Northern Patagonia Regional Administration has applied to the local Ministry of Transportation and obtained permission to deploy more than 110 "Qingtang Army" series steam dredgers to dredge the Ludang River to dredge the river. The river course, so as to avoid the tragedy of "Qingtang Jun-[-]" running aground on other ships.After all, this river is a river channel formed by the overflow of mountain floods. After washing all the way from the upstream, it also brought a lot of suspended sediment. These suspended substances are rare nutrients and are best used to fertilize the fields. However, the channel after dredging may be able to pass ships with a larger tonnage, which is very critical for the development of the middle and upper reaches of the Ludang River.

And when the dredging of the waterway is initially completed, and the supplies and troop reserves (for example, the soldiers led by Guo Handong will arrive in batches later) are similar, the people on the east coast will also launch the "desert conquest" operation like the Argentines of later generations. Similarly, it is almost a certainty to solve the hidden dangers of the indigenous people in the Neuquen area in one fell swoop and completely obtain the river valley with rich water and grass!

(End of this chapter)